She didn’t need Rick Martin to remind her of her failures. She had a sea of regrets and unsolved cases to do that for her. The list of girls that she hadn’t been able to find lined her wall and her memory. She even had an official reprimand from her FBI supervisor and an order to stop using FBI resources to chase after a trafficking ring that, in his mind, didn’t exist.
The door pushed open and Elise quickly wiped away tears that had spilled out.
Josh’s arms surrounded her. “He shouldn’t have said that. This is not your fault.”
“He’s not wrong. I should have done more to protect Brooke.”
“Don’t lay this all on yourself, Elise. I’ve been telling Daniel for weeks that Larkin was a predator. No one listened...no one except you. You saw him for what he is. That’s more than anyone else has done.”
She stared at the teacher through the two-way glass as he sat hunched at the interview table. He looked defeated and weak, certainly not like a predator. But she rationalized he preyed on young girls. He was only weak when he was challenged by adults who could fight back.
She opened the interview room door and stepped inside. Larkin looked oddly hopeful when he saw her. “Agent Richardson, I did not do this.” His eyes pleaded with her for understanding. “I would never lay a hand on either of those girls. You’re making a mistake.”
She hardened her expression as she sat down across from him. “I was on the phone with Brooke when you grabbed her.”
“I didn’t,” he insisted. “It wasn’t me.”
“Are you claiming Brooke was lying?”
“All I know is I didn’t take her.” He slammed his hands against the table. “You have to believe me!”
Elise tried to remain calm against his outburst.
“Tell me where you put her. Make this easier on yourself. If she’s found safely, it will look better for you. Let these families have their daughters back before Christmas.”
“I can’t tell you where she is because I didn’t take her.”
They continued the back and forth until a man in a suit entered. “Don’t say anything else,” he told Larkin. “I’m Mr. Larkin’s attorney.”
Chief Mills followed him inside and addressed Elise. “We have to let him go.”
She jumped to her feet. “What? Why?”
The attorney spoke. “All the police have is your word that Brooke named Larkin in her abduction. She was not found at his residence and you have no proof that he had anything to do with her abduction.” He motioned toward Larkin. “Let’s go.”
Larkin stared from his lawyer to Elise and then to Josh, who stood in the doorway. “Of course. You’re trying to set me up. Josh has been convinced since day one that I had a hand in his niece’s disappearance and now he’s convinced you, too.” Chief Mills unlocked the restraints and Larkin motioned to his lawyer. “Let’s get out of here.”
Elise watched him walk out, a smirk crossing his face as he stopped at Josh in the hallway.
“Nice try,” he told Josh, “but this won’t stop me from filing charges against your sister-in-law.”
Elise touched Josh’s arm, a new determined fire igniting inside of her. Larkin would not get away with this. She would make certain he was brought to justice.
“This isn’t over,” she assured Josh. “This is far from over.”
* * *
After another sleepless night, Elise spent her morning studying the photos of missing girls on her wall. She’d moved back into her hotel room after Brooke’s abduction in order to give all her attention to the case. All her patterns, all her suspicions about Candace appeared to match those of these girls, but she couldn’t deny the facts—Brooke had mentioned Larkin by name and his involvement in Brooke’s abduction offered more substance to his involvement in Candace’s disappearance.
Had she imagined the connection? Had she looked for patterns where none had existed? Were her supervisors right? Was she chasing after something that didn’t exist?
A knock on her door caught her attention. She glanced at her watch. Seven a.m. was far too early for visitors. She was a morning person, but no one else in town knew that about her. She glanced through the peephole and spotted a tall, lanky man with sandy-brown hair. Her heart leaped.
Lin!
She threw open the door and he smiled at her in his nonchalant manner.
“What are you doing in Westhaven?” she asked.
“I was worried about you. I thought I would drive down here and see what kind of mess you were getting yourself into.” He slipped out of his coat and examined her wall of photographs.
“Does Micah know you’re here?” Their supervisor was convinced Elise was chasing after ghosts, and she knew he would never allow Lin to come.
He folded his arms, his stance strong and solid. “It’s none of Micah’s business what I do during my Christmas vacation.”
“You took vacation days? You shouldn’t have done that.” But it meant the world to her that he had. Now, if she only had something to prove her point about the ring—but she didn’t.
The moment Brooke had screamed Larkin’s name, Elise had known this case was unlikely to link to the trafficking ring she’d been investigating. She had gathered information about his past employers and would look into any links between Larkin and the other missing girls, but it seemed unlikely he had anything to do with the missing girls in other towns. She’d simply uncovered a predator who liked young girls.
“We’ve had a break in Candace’s case,” she said, pulling off the photograph of Candace. “Another girl has gone missing, abducted in broad daylight while I was on the phone with her. She claimed her biology teacher was hurting her and had hurt Candace, as well. So it looks like I won’t find that connection I was searching for in Westhaven.”
“What about the abducted girls?”
“Brooke’s been missing for twenty-six hours now. So far, we haven’t found anything to lead us to discover where she’s being kept. Candace vanished nearly three weeks ago.”
“So I’m confused, Elise. You said yourself this case has nothing to do with the trafficking ring and it clearly falls outside the scope of the FBI, yet you’re still involved. Am I missing something?”
“You’re right. It’s not an FBI case, but I’m not acting in an official FBI capacity anyway.”
“Yet you’re still here?”
“I made a promise to find this girl, Lin. I owe it to these people to do whatever I can.”
“Is this about the uncle?”
She felt her face redden, embarrassed that Lin would make such a suggestion and even more that it might be true. She owed a debt to this family, but she also knew she couldn’t, wouldn’t, leave Josh until she’d fulfilled her vow. “I told you. I owe this family.”
“Why? Who are they?”
“It’s personal.”
“So it is about Uncle Josh.”
“No. It’s about so much more.”
It was time Lin knew the truth about what had driven her into an FBI career. She poured out the story to him about Max, about Candace and Patti, and even about Josh.
“So you can see why I owe these people, Lin. I can’t leave until I find her.”
He sighed and picked up her notepad from the bed. “These are Larkin’s past employers?”
“Yes. He worked at three other schools before coming here. I was about to contact them to discover if there were any similar accusations during his time at those schools.”
He picked up his phone and his jacket. “I’ll help you with the research, but can we at least go somewhere with decent coffee while we work?”
Elise grabbed her jacket, thankful for Lin’s understanding and support.
* * *
Around noon, Elise knocked on Josh’s apartment door, and after a
moment, it opened and Josh stuck his head out. “Elise, hi.” He rubbed his eyes and raked a hand through his mussed hair. It was obvious she’d woken him.
“I tried to call but you didn’t answer. I hope it’s all right that I just came over.”
“Absolutely.” He pushed open the door and motioned her inside. Dressed in only his jeans and a T-shirt, he padded across the floor barefoot as he headed to a small kitchenette. “Would you like coffee?”
“No, thanks.”
He nodded but poured himself a cup. “I staked out Larkin’s house last night, hoping to keep an eye on him or maybe get a clue as to where he’s keeping Brooke or Candace, but he never returned home. He’s gone.”
She held out a file to him. “I looked into Larkin’s employment history. It seems he was asked to resign from three separate schools for what they deemed inappropriate behavior with students. And if he agreed to leave quietly then they wouldn’t notate the reasons in his file. Thankfully, we were able to speak with someone who knew the details before they closed for the Christmas break.”
He skimmed through the file. “No one ever pressed charges?”
“No. The schools probably wanted to handle the problem internally. And because they did, it didn’t show up on his references when he was hired here.”
He closed the file, anger clouding his face. “And because these places didn’t want to rock the boat, they released this monster to prey on my niece.”
“The thing is, Josh, there’s been no history of kidnapping or violence toward these girls. It doesn’t make sense that he would change his pattern of behavior so drastically.”
“Maybe he just never got caught before.”
“I’ll see if I can find any girls that went missing in the areas during the times he was teaching at each school.” She pulled out her phone to call Lin, thankful again for his help. He was putting himself on the line for her using FBI resources when he was supposed to be on vacation, but she knew he would do it.
“I’ll go get dressed,” Josh said, disappearing down the hall.
She gave Lin the search parameters and he promised to let her know if he found anything.
As she hung up the phone, Elise noticed the small Christmas tree in the corner and the gifts beneath it. She spotted one with Candace’s name on it and her heart broke. She noticed the display over the mantel. Josh’s citations and medals as an army ranger were numerous and positioned beside a photograph of him and his brother. Family was important to this man, and Elise liked that. She also noticed a group photograph she assumed to be his ranger squad. She ran her fingers over the photograph, shuddering in the knowledge that most of these men didn’t make it home to their own families.
“It’s all about the blood,” Josh said, startling her from the doorway. He’d thrown a button-up shirt on and slipped into his boots.
She replaced the photograph. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t prying.”
“Blood. It’s what ties a family together.” He motioned toward the picture. “We fought together, ate together, bled together. Do you have a partner, Elise? Someone in the FBI that always has your back?”
“Yes. His name is Lincoln Wildwood.” Lin was the only person she’d trusted solely...until now.
“Imagine if you had fourteen of him. That’s what it’s like being a ranger.”
“Do you keep up with them?”
“Absolutely.” He fingered the key at his neck. “Those of us that survived the attack, most, like me, have taken civilian jobs or just retired altogether, but they still have my back and I have theirs whenever, wherever. With one call, I could have five fully decked-out former rangers combing every inch of this area.”
She could imagine such a sight. But it made her wonder. “Why haven’t you?”
The smile faded from his face. He sat down and glanced up at her. “We have no idea where to start searching. Besides, what if you’re right, Elise? What if this is about me? About my time in the army or even my security work? I’ve already put Candace in danger. I couldn’t ask my brothers to take on that risk, as well.”
“So that idea wasn’t quite as preposterous as you wanted me to think, was it?”
“Of course it wasn’t. I knew it was always a possibility. I think that’s why I’ve felt so paralyzed lately. My stomach has been knotted for weeks worrying about what calamity I might have brought down on my family. I don’t understand how people live like this, constantly worried that every move they make could mean placing the people they love in danger.”
“I suppose when you have a dangerous career, you’re always aware that something bad could happen.”
He looked at her, studying her for several long moments. “What would you be willing to sacrifice, Elise?”
“To stop innocent children from being sold into prostitution? I would sacrifice everything, even my life, in order to protect one child.”
He rubbed his face and stood, his back to her. “You would sacrifice all that to help people who would just as soon spit at you as thank you?” The bitterness in his tone dinged her heart, and she knew he was referring to his time in Afghanistan. He was hurting so badly at the loss of his friends, his brothers. “It doesn’t make sense to me anymore.”
She placed her hands on his back, hugging him from behind. “Sacrifice never does make much sense.”
“And what if you had a husband at home and a child? Would you expect them to sacrifice you, as well?”
“This is more than just a job to me. I don’t do it only to earn a paycheck. I do it because I have to, because I feel it’s my calling in life. There are young girls suffering and it’s my job to find them, to help them. I hope that my family, if I ever have one, would understand that. I hope they would know that my sacrifice made a difference in someone’s life.”
He seemed to ponder that thought. Then he shook his head. “I used to believe that. I used to think the same way, but I don’t anymore. I went to six funerals in as many days. I watched wives and children cry for husbands and fathers, and I watched most of my squadron lose lives and careers.”
He stepped away from her, away from her embrace. His wide shoulders carried a heavy burden, and Elise knew they couldn’t hold one more.
“It’s not that I don’t want you because I do. You’re beautiful and smart and so kind. And you have this amazing zeal and passion for your work. The truth is all I want every waking moment of the day is to be in your presence, to soak in your perfume and to wait anxiously for you to smile and brighten my entire day.”
Elise’s heart soared at his words even as the painful reality of where he was leading sank in.
“But I can’t. I can’t lose another person I love. I can’t let myself go there.”
She understood. He wouldn’t ask her to choose, but that was in essence her choice. Better to pull away now before things got too entangled, before their hearts got too involved.
“I understand.” She grabbed her file folder and rushed out of his apartment before the depth of his eyes caused her to question the path she was on.
* * *
Josh ignored the shrill ring of his phone. He wasn’t in the mood to speak to anyone. A few hours of peace was all he desired to process what had just happened between him and Elise. Was he making a mistake letting her go? His head swam with confusion. He could so easily see this woman stepping into his life and becoming important to him.
He rubbed his eyes, admitting the truth. She was already important to him.
He shouldn’t have allowed that to happen, but it had sneaked up on him so subtly that he hadn’t even noticed.
But he’d been honest with her about his feelings. He could get past her connection to Max, but he simply couldn’t deal with her dangerous lifestyle. He’d had his share of putting his own life and others’ at risk. He couldn’t continue to live that way
, and he couldn’t live with the ever-present fear that one day she might not return to him.
His heart simply couldn’t take that kind of heartbreak again.
But why did denying his heart hurt so much, too?
His phone rang again and this time he picked it up. He didn’t recognize the number, but he’d got into the habit of answering it regardless. What if it was Candace calling him for help and he didn’t answer because he didn’t recognize the number she was calling from? Selfishly, he realized he’d spent the afternoon out of contact. What if she’d needed him then?
He answered the phone, holding out that one bit of hope that he would hear her voice on the other end of the line.
“I—I was going to leave a message,” an unfamiliar male voice stated. “I wasn’t expecting you to answer.”
“Who is this?” Josh demanded.
“No one. I mean, I don’t want to get involved in this, but I thought you should know Peter Larkin has a storage shed outside of town in the woods surrounding Shadow Lake. It’s on the north side near a cluster of fallen trees.” He rattled off coordinates to the shed.
“Who is this?” Josh demanded again, his heart beginning to beat faster with excitement.
“I—I told you. I don’t want to get involved. I just thought you should know.”
Josh heard a click and knew the man had hung up.
Excitement lit through him. This could be the break they’d been searching for. He hadn’t recognized the caller or the number, but it didn’t matter. If it led to finding Candace and Brooke, the tipster could remain anonymous for all he cared.
* * *
Elise spent the afternoon at the café with Lin, pretending everything was fine as they pored over statements, background checks and property holdings on Peter Larkin, although she doubted he really believed it. He knew her so well after all the years they’d been partners.
It was late when she finally excused herself and retired to her hotel room.
Yuletide Abduction Page 12
